Chase plays Christopher Thorne, an investment banker with his own newsletter. At a party, he meets financial lawyer Diane Lightson (Moore) who he offers to drive to Atlantic City for an important meeting. Tagging along are two of Christopher's wealthiest clients, eccentric Brazillian siblings Fausto & Renalda. During their trip through the country, they are menaced by the corrupt and tyrannical JusticeAlvin Valkenheiser and his family.

This film contains the examples of:

Abhorrent Admirer: Eldona, an overweight woman played by John Candy in drag, wants to marry Christopher, whether he wants to or not (and her Corrupt Hick grandfather JP is more than happy to help her arrange this).

And Now You Must Marry Me: The JP forces Christopher to marry his granddaughter Eldona, the alternative being execution for being a banker. He agrees to go through the ceremony since he figures it will give him an opportunity to escape, but after tying the knot he immediately get caught.

Anticipatory Breath Spray: Thorne initially orders his driver to take Diane to Atlantic City before he sees her emerge out of the elevator looking all fine. He tells the driver to give him the keys and a dose of his breath spray.

Chris and Diane also find tons of newspaper clippings and IDs in the attic belonging to the Judge's previous victims, most of whom are various disreputable people such as mafioso, ex-Nazis, and biker gangs. And Hare Krishnas.

The Bad Guys Are Cops: The state police are actually aware of J.P. Valkenheiser's activities, but conspire with him to kill criminals who wriggled their way through the ordinary American justice system.

Bloodless Carnage: The "Bonestripper" lives up to its name; the bones that fly out are completely clean, and not a drop of blood is ever seen the entire movie.

Bribe Backfire: Thorne (and later on a bunch of asshole yuppies) try to bribe their way off being arrested in Valkenvania... the problem is that the J.P. is not only a Hanging Judge, but also a man who hates (and that is murderously loathes) rich people ("bankers!"). The only time a bribe works, it's because the deputy was already deciding to do a "Screw This, I'm Outta Here!" and the implied job offer sounded interesting.

Cavalry Betrayal: After escaping from Judge Valkenheiser's grasp, Chris and Diane go back with an entire army of state troopers in tow to arrest the Hanging Judge. It becomes obvious that they're ALL in league with Valkenheiser when they turn their weapons on the pair.

Corrupt Hick: Judge Alvin Valkenheiser — and how! Valkenvania is basically his personal fiefdom (his mansion is even built like a castle, complete with moat). Plus his whole operation consists of having his deputized family members arrest criminals (both real and imagined) who journey through the town before executing them so they can loot their cars and other belongings.

Defector from Decadence: Chief Dennis Valkenheiser is shown to object somewhat to his J.P. grandfather's severe punishments of even non-criminals. He eventually decides to resign and take a job offer from the rich Brazilian brother and sister by helping them escape.

Disproportionate Retribution: God help you, God really, really help you if you're a banker (or work on some business that people could describe (even if highly erroneously) as "banker") and the JP gets you. No amount of fame, fortune or begging will save you from being sentenced harshly, or maybe even killed and disappeared without a trace, just for being a "banker".

The End... Or Is It?: Valkenvania is destroyed in a massive gas explosion, and the heroes make it back home when a news report reveals that the hick Hanging Judge is still alive and is going to pay his "grandson-in-law" a visit.

Evil Old Folks: The J.P. is friggin' ancient, being a 106-year old Hanging Judge. He's almost completely immobile and depends on his grandchildren for muscle.

The Grotesque: Bobo and Lil' Debbul, two extremely fat men wearing diapers.

Hanging Judge: JP Alvin Valkenheiser. He's a Corrupt Hick who rules his courtroom like a tyrant, and executes anyone he hates (especially stinkin' bankers!) by sentencing them to a ride on the "Bonestripper".

Mickey Mousing: The bones that come out of Mr. Bonestripper make pinball-sounds when they hit the target sign nearby.

The Noseless: Judge Valkenheiser takes off his fake nose in his private quarters. Chris, who is secretly observing this from a wall cavity, has to restain himself from gagging.

People Fall Off Chairs: When Chris learns that Judge Valkenheiser has survived the giant earthquake through a news report at the end, he literally falls off his couch.

Politically Incorrect Villain: Surprisingly averted. It seems to be the one thing the JP has in terms of being just. In spite of being a Corrupt Hick par excellence, when he judges a group of hip hop artists, he actually lets them be on their way after asking them for a favor.

Portrait Painting Peephole: A painting of a fat lady in Chris and Diane's guest room at the mansion has cut-out eyes that are used by Eldona to spy on them.

Right Behind Me: Says Humpty-Hump about Purdah — "She is one ugly, cross-burning, redneck, peckerwood police bitch, man." Subverted in that Humpty doesn't care that Purdah heard what he said (though Purdah does harshly tell Humpty Hump and the other Digital Underground members to move it).

Suddenly SHOUTING!: Judge Valkenheiser seems to be just a soft-spoken, senile old judge but when the foursome before him don't take him seriously and see the proceedings as a mere formality, he suddenly jumps out of his chair and raises his voice to scare them.

Once while riding his motorcycle through the country, Dan Aykroyd was pulled over by a local cop, who hauled him into the Justice of the Peace's courthouse in the middle of the night for sentencing.

Also, the mostly-abandoned New England town with coal fires burning beneath it for a century - though Centralia, Pennsylvania, has only been burning for fifty years as of 2012.

Villain with Good Publicity: J.P Valkenheiser. After making their escape, the heroes inform the state troopers about the Corrupt HickHanging Judge ruling Valkenvania like a dictator and executing anyone he pleases, but when they go back there it turns out that they all love the JP and his methods. They're about to dispose of the heroes instead for having seen too much when an earthquake destroys the town.

The Voiceless: Eldona. At first Christopher thinks she's just shy, but according to the JP she's mute.

The Walls Are Closing In: Chris and Diane are menaced by a wall moving in to crush them while they're sneaking around the Valkenheiser estate.

What a Piece of Junk: At the beginning of the film, Christopher tries to outrun Dennis' patrol car, only to find out the hard way that the car's engine has been modified in such a way to be able to catch up with Thorne's top-of-the-line BMW. At the end of the film, Christopher and Diane escape an exploding Valkenvania using the nearly-totally-scrapped BMW, which still runs pretty well (Diane tried to turn it on earlier, but turned out that there was an anti-theft safety catch that only Christopher could turn off).

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